George Russell itching to prove Mercedes chief's controversial Lewis Hamilton remark wrong
George Russell is set to take over from Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes' top driver, but he won't be pleased with a team boss' comments about his future in F1.
George Russell will be eager to prove a Mercedes chief wrong after they suggested he will not win as many titles as Lewis Hamilton has. Mercedes F1’s Chief Communications Officer - Bradley Lord - addressed Hamilton’s impending departure at the end of the current 2024 season by singing the Brit’s praises, before claiming his record of six world titles with the Silver Arrows won’t be topped.
Hamilton, 39, announced in February he had sealed a shock move to rivals Ferrari from 2025. In his 12th and final season with Mercedes, where he won all but one of his championships, he has decided it's time to pursue a new challenge – one which will see him race for his dream Italian outfit.
The racing legend’s feats put him level with Michael Schumacher as the most successful driver in the sport’s history. Team-mate and fellow Brit Russell will be entrusted with taking up the mantle of the Brackley-based team’s No.1 driver – yet it appears the internal view is that he will not be as great as Hamilton in 15 years’ time.
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Addressing Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Lord explained: “The way he said it to me, and to others, is he didn’t want to sit in his pipe and slippers in 30 years’ time and go ‘God I wish I had driven for Ferrari’, so when the opportunity came, he followed his gut.
“Yes it was difficult, complicated, surprising, but we understand it as a team. At Mercedes we know, if Lewis goes on to achieve his dream of that 8th title with Ferrari it’ll be the icing on the cake – but the big chunk of that cake is always going to be Mercedes.
“In 10 years, 15 years' time, he’s still gonna be the most successful racing driver this company and this team has seen.”
Russell has two victories to his name in 117 races at the age of 26. Hamilton has claimed 104 wins in just over double the amount of races, though he had clinched just one of his titles at Russell’s age.
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The younger Mercedes driver will be motivated to prove Lord wrong, especially given the fact he outperformed Hamilton in the 2022 season. However, the latter reclaimed his dominant position in 2023 and appears set to finish ahead again this year.
Prior to Hamilton’s upturn in form earlier in the season, he suggested Russell has been receiving preferential treatment from the team due to his own impending departure. Russell, however, played down his childhood hero’s claim.
He told Channel 4: “I think that was probably comments in the heat of the moment, because he [Hamilton] knows full well that we get the same treatment.
"Lewis is a winner, and of course these years have been frustrating for all of us, but especially for him. He’s been used to winning every single season he competes in, and hasn’t won in three years. So as I said, it’s frustrating for him, it’s frustrating for all of us, but I’m sure he didn’t mean it as it came across.”
